Posts tagged: college

AMS’ Mark Perigen observes as a future chef at Delta College’s Culinary School puts his egg quality knowledge to the test.

When embarking on their culinary careers, great chefs recognize that the key to creating delicious food is staying true to their ingredients. At the heart of these truths is, “Good in; good out.” If they put the best ingredients into cooking, they’ll get the best food out of them. But with so many product and ingredient choices at their fingertips, how can they be sure they’re picking the best quality ingredients available?

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) takes the guesswork out of that process by developing, maintaining and interpreting specific measurements of quality through U.S. standards and grades for a wide variety of agricultural products. AMS also offers voluntary services to producers and suppliers to certify products to those standards. Read more »

Gracie Valdez explains how traveling around the world helped her to want to pursue a career in international agricultural development and trade.

Growing up, the question of the day often started with “why” or “how” because I loved discovering things. Though my specific interests morphed from archaeology to geology to biology, I knew I wanted to be a scientist since the 5th grade. In college, I chose to study biology, which exposed me to many different aspects of the field. College was the springboard that sharpened my focus and led me to becoming the ecosystem ecologist I am today. Recognizing National College Signing Day, I hope that today’s inbound students consider studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects to help meet our future agricultural challenges. Read more »

On January 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the very first Super Bowl. On that day, few of the estimated 51 million fans gathered around their television sets realized the profound impact the Super Bowl would have on chicken consumption in the United States. The Packers won the game 35-10, but ultimately the real winner was chicken – particularly wings.

In 1967, Americans consumes 32.6 pounds of chicken per capita, typically purchased in whole-bird form. Cuts of chicken were a novelty at the grocery story, and there was little demand for chicken wings. But, in 1964, the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y. decided to turn the typical soup-stock staple into a spicy finger food to feed a hungry crowd. Read more »

The program originally started in 1926 at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, and was sponsored by the National Live Stock and Meat Board. Contests have been held every year since 1926, with the exception of the war years. Read more »

MyPlate On Campus Ambassadors are encouraged to use resources, such as this 10 Tips handout, to promote healthy eating to their peers.

The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion launched a new initiative this past March, MyPlate On Campus, to help spread healthy eating messages to young adults during their college years. MyPlate On Campus is a unique program that encourages students to improve their own eating and physical activity habits as well as promote healthy eating to their peers. Most college students are emerging out on their own for the first time and perhaps vulnerable to the busy days of assignments, eating on-the-go, and making their own food decisions. MyPlate On Campus provides students around the country with the tools to communicate the messages supporting the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to their campus community. Students who are interested in promoting health and wellness are invited to sign up as a MyPlate On Campus Ambassador and become a member of the USDA/CNPP Nutrition Communicators Network. Read more »

These students, members of a college club called Environmental & Natural Resource Organization, are known throughout the community for their environmental work. Whether cleaning beaches and city streets or tending public gardens, they are role models and valuable volunteers in the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Earth Team program. Earth Team is the volunteer workforce of NRCS.

A faculty member in the NMC Math, Science, & Health Department founded ENRO in 2009. Since then, students have led, planned and organized conservation activities. These students log countless volunteer hours cleaning up and improving the environment of Saipan. In addition to picking up trash and weeding, they spend their free time learning about more complex methods of conservation. Read more »